''The East Indian'' is a 1799

comedy play Comedy is a genre of dramatic performance having a light or humorous tone that depicts amusing incidents and in which the characters ultimately triumph over adversity. For ancient Greeks and Romans, a comedy was a stage-play with a happy endin ...

by the British writer Matthew Lewis. It premiered at the

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Dr ...

on 22 April 1799. It was partly inspired by characters from

Frances Burney Frances Burney (13 June 1752 – 6 January 1840), also known as Fanny Burney and later Madame d'Arblay, was an English satirical novelist, diarist and playwright. In 1786–1790 she held the post as "Keeper of the Robes" to Charlotte of Mecklen ...

's ''

Cecilia Cecilia is a personal name originating in the name of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The name has been popularly used in Europe (particularly the United Kingdom and Italy, where in 2018 it was the 43rd most popular name for girls born ...

'' while the playbill advertised it as being inspired by the 1790 play ''Die Indianer in England'' by

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (; – ) was a German dramatist and writer who also worked as a consul in Russia and Germany. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl L ...

. The original Drury Lane cast included Robert Palmer as Lord Listless, William Barrymore as Modish,

John Philip Kemble John Philip Kemble (1 February 1757 – 26 February 1823) was a British actor. He was born into a theatrical family as the eldest son of Roger Kemble, actor-manager of a touring troupe. His elder sister Sarah Siddons achieved fame with him on t ...

as Rivers,

Charles Kemble Charles Kemble (25 November 1775 – 12 November 1854) was a Welsh-born English actor of a prominent theatre family. Life Charles Kemble was one of 13 siblings and the youngest son of English Roman Catholic theatre manager/actor Roger Kemble ...

as Beauchamp,

James Aickin James Aickin (died 1803), was an Irish stage actor who worked at the Edinburgh Theatre in Scotland and in theatres in the West End of London. He was the younger brother of the actor Francis Aickin (died 1803) with whom he shared the stage at the ...

as Walsingham,

Ralph Wewitzer Ralph Wewitzer (1748–1825) was an English actor. He won critical acclaim in supporting parts, but was never given leading roles. He had a 44-year acting career, and is thought to have learned over 400 speaking parts. Early roles at Covent Garden ...

as Friponeau,

Thomas Hollingsworth Thomas Hollingsworth (1748-1814) was a British stage actor. Born to a house servant at Covent Garden, following the death of his father he was mentored by the actor Joseph Younger. Hollingsworth first acted at Covent Garden and later joined Ri ...

as Squeez'em, John Bannister as Frank,

Jane Powell Jane Powell (born Suzanne Lorraine Burce; April 1, 1929 – September 16, 2021) was an American actress, singer, and dancer who first appeared in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musicals in the 1940s and 50s. With her soprano voice and girl-next-door ima ...

as Mrs. Ormond,

Dorothea Jordan Dorothea Jordan, née Bland (21 November 17615 July 1816), was an Anglo-Irish actress, as well as a courtesan. She was the long-time mistress (lover), mistress of Duke of Clarence, Prince William, Duke of Clarence, later William IV, and the moth ...

as Zorayda and

Charlotte Tidswell Charlotte Tidswell (c. 1760 – 3 September 1846) was an English actress. Life Tidswell was born in 1759 or 1760 and her father may have been a soldier. She may have been acting for five years when her name was first mentioned when she appeared ...

as Mrs. Blaball. Lewis had written the play several years earlier, and it was published in 1800 by John Bell. Lewis p.169

Bibliography

* Hogan, C.B (ed.) ''The London Stage, 1660–1800: Volume V''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1968. * Irwin, Joseph James. ''M. G. "Monk" Lewis''. Twayne Publishers, 1976. * Parisian, Catherine M. ''Frances Burney's Cecilia: A Publishing History''. Routledge, 2016.

References

Plays by Matthew Lewis 1799 plays West End plays Comedy plays British plays {{18thC-play-stub